Young and Dumb
by Kiki Malone
Summary: When Sirius was young, he was dumb and he made mistakes. Many of his biggest mistakes involved a raven-haired student who was even younger and dumber than him. Prequel to Gift of Black, but not necessary to read.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

 **Young and Dumb**

 **Chapter One: The Beginning**

The day that Sirius had been waiting for, had finally arrived, September first. He could finally leave the hell of his parents' house and return to Hogwarts for his fourth year with the Maurauders. The moment they reached King's Cross Station, Sirius raced off with his luggage, leaving his parents and younger brother in the dust. He ran recklessly, weaving his luggage trolley between the people milling about the station, and did not stop until he had run head long into the wall separating nine and ten, and found himself on Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

He looked excitedly through the crowd, hoping to see one of his friends. He pushed the cart while searching, so as to avoid his family, and hopefully, not see them until summer. He saw Adelina Benson, Marcus Stebbins, Blake Chang, Erwin Hamilton, Stella Brown, Avery Prewitt, Cassiopia Finley... but not James. Astrid Greengrass accidentally hit him with her luggage and did not apologize. Gareth MacDougal, Oswin Padmore and Hazel Longstaff were running through the crowd tossing a quaffle back and forth. Godric Fei, the new head boy, and his sister Mona were assuring their mother that they would keep their younger siblings out of trouble. Emmaline Vance ran past him, giving him a friendly smack on the head and a wave as she chased a glittering orb with a couple of friends he did not recognize. He ran over Madhari Shafiq's toes and apologized, before continuing on his way. Finally he spotted, not one of his friends, but Lily Evans, which meant that James would be along shortly if he just kept following her. Lily and Snivellus, did not appreciate it.

When James _did_ appear, he wasted little time in trying to impress Lily while also making fun of her friend. When it became apparent that it was not working -especially after Lily had found a compartment on the train and jammed it shut so that they could not follow- they gave up their pursuit and found their own compartment. Once their luggage was put away, Sirius left to go find Peter (and also to set a dung bomb off in his brother's compartment), Remus would not be taking the Hogwarts Express this year, due to the full moon being that night; it was truly a shame, they would have to wait two days to see him.

After the planting the dung bomb in his brother's compartment, Sirius continued on his journey to find his friend. He had not made it far down the corridor, however, when a kitten ran between his legs and Brian Fei dived after it, causing Sirius to lose his balance and fall towards Mona. The red headed girl let out a small shriek, as she also lost her balance and fell backwards. Sirius supported himself on his elbows and looked at the girl beneath him, who's face now matched her hair.

"Hello Mona!" He grinned at her, trying to decide if he should make the situation less awkward or mess with her and suffer the consequences.

"SIRIUS! GET OFF MY SISTER!"

The next second, he felt himself being pulled off of Mona by three sets of hands and tossed into the window. He looked up and saw the Fei brothers, Peader was helping his older sister up, while Godric and Brian glared at Sirius and other students began to form a crowd and watch. It seemed that he would be paying the consequences, even though he had not done anything.

"How many times have I told you to leave my sister alone!" Godric interrogated angrily.

"In all fairness," Sirius defended, "your brother, here, was the one who tripped me and she was just there -Not that I'm complaining, if I had to fall on any girl, your sister is definitely towards the top of the list."

"Sirius." Godric growled.

"He's telling the truth this time, Godric." Mona said, still glaring at Sirius with annoyance. "If it's anybody's fault, it's Peader's for letting that cat out of it's basket."

"Fine." Godric agreed. "But you're still to stay away from my sisters this year, just like always."

"Sisters?" Sirius asked. "Does that mean that the next one is starting already?"

"Calm down Godric," Brian said, "I'm sure that even Sirius wouldn't hit on an eleven year old."

"I suppose you're right about that, I can wait a year, if she's anything like Mona."

Godric and Brian both reached for their wands.

"STOP!" Mona ordered, her bothers. "Brian, you find that _bloody_ cat, Godric, you grab Sorcha and I'll take Peader to Mam and tell her what he did so that she can give him a decent scolding before the train leaves!"

"Fine." The two boys, facing Sirius, agreed, before stomping off in opposite directions.

Mona grabbed her, twelve year old, brother by the ear and pulled him down the corridor towards the exit. James pushed through the dispersing crowd and Sirius saw a wheezing Peter behind him.

"I heard Peter running past our compartment and squeaking about you being in trouble. I thought you were gonna hold off on messing with Mona until tomorrow." James laughed. "Man, the Fei's are gonna be out for your blood all year, now!"

Sirius sighed as he flung his arm over James's shoulder and walking towards Peter.

"And I suppose that I only made it worse, with that comment I made about their little sister." He said, wistfully. "If only Moony had been here to stop me."

Back in their compartment, Sirius looked out the window and saw the Fei siblings saying goodbye to their parents. Judging by the way Peader was rubbing the back of his head, their mother had already finished her scolding. Mr. and Mrs. Fei were now both bent over the small girl, in between Godric and Mona, and talking to her. All Sirius could see of the girl was her curly, black hair, and long skirt. The parents hugged their children goodbye, and gave their younger daughter one more hug, before Godric picked her up and led his siblings back to the Hogwart's Express. Once again, all Sirius could see of the girl was her hair.

The rest of the train ride was fairly uneventful, they mostly just caught up and made plans for their new school year and continuing their plans to become Animorohmagi. The high point was the dung bomb going off in Regulus's carriage. It caused quite a commotion and Regulus came, fuming, to confront Sirius (who did nothing, but laugh). When they finally caught sight if Hogwarts, they changed their robes and got their luggage ready to go.

The three boys made sure to greet Hagrid, before boarding the thestral drawn carriage. James invited Lily into their carriage, and told her that she could even bring Severus. However, he had slipped up and accidentally said 'Snivellus' instead of 'Severus', resulting in Lily trudging all the way down the line until she found one with enough room for the two of them.

In the end, they were joined by Blake Chang (the new Hufflepuff Prefect) his younger sister, Lian and her mousy friend, Anwen Deering. Blake was a decent guy who could take a joke, so Sirius did not mind his presence greatly. Although, the fact that he was now a prefect, meant that they would have to be cautious with their conversation topics. Luckily, Blake solved that problem for them when Lian tried sit next to Sirius.

"Careful Lian, I heard that he still hits on twelve year olds, I'd have my wand ready if I were you!" Blake warned jokingly.

"While that is true, what I really said is that I would be hitting on _one specific_ twelve year old, when I'm _fifteen._ It's completely different." He looked at Lian who was hesitating to sit down. "Although you _are_ very beautiful as well, you'll probably be giving Mona and Tansy a run for their Galleons in a few years."

Lian suddenly looked at her brother in alarm. The seating arrangements were quickly changed so that three Maurauders, who were present, sat on one side, while the Changs and Anwen sat on the other side, with Lian as far away from Sirius as possible.

"He was only joking, Lian." Blake tried to reassure his little sister as the carriage moved up the path.

"That's not what Aiken says. He told me to be careful around Sirius Black."

"Yes, because he plays pranks on people, just like he's doing now."

"Where is Aiken, anyways?" James asked, trying to change the subject.

"He ran off with his girlfriend the moment we said goodbye to our parents." Blake answered.

"Is he still dating Fawn Davis? I thought they broke up."

"They did. He said that she was being unreasonable -because she was- so she jinxed him. And that was the end of their relationship."

"Good riddance to her." Sirius said. "I tell you, that girl is nuts."

"But she's still in our house isn't she?" Peter asked.

"True, but now every time she's being a bother, we just ask her how she's dealing with the break-up." Sirius replied.

"And especially when we remind her that Aiken is dating someone else now -who _is_ he dating anyways?" James asked Blake.

"Alvina Ness. They started dating over summer break."

" _WHAT_?!" The Maurauders all exclaimed.

"Those two _hate_ each other!" Sirius exclaimed.

"And they share a room!" James reminded them.

"Didn't they destroy the common room once?" Peter wimpered.

"Only a little." Sirius waved it off.

"Wait -what?" Blake asked.

"Fawn threw Alvina's books and robes in the fire, so Alvina plastered her pages of her diary around the common room -apparently your brother is quite the snogger- and it turned into an all out brawl." James laughed as he told the story.

"And they didn't get expelled?" Lian asked, incredulously.

"Nah. The rest of us cleaned it up well enough, that by the time McGonagall showed up, she only gave them a month of detention with Filch." Sirius said.

"And took about a hundred points from Gryffindor." James added.

"Yeah, that part was a bummer -but seriously, Blake, is your brother trying to get somebody killed?!" Sirius asked.

"I don't think he was aware that it was _that_ bad."

"Well I'll be surprised if there's a not a dead body by the end of the year." James stated. "Because Fawn is just bloody mad and Alvina is a cousin of the Feis, so not only does she fight back, she's got about twenty cousins in the school who will back her up."

"I don't think there's twenty of them." Blake said, trying to be reasonable.

"Well, another one of Godric's siblings is starting this year, so that's five of them." Sirius stared counting.

"And their dad's brother has three kids in." James added.

"That's eight, still not twenty." Blake said.

"We're not done yet." James said. "Isn't Simon their cousin as well?"

"Yeah, his dad is another brother. So that's nine." Sirius said.

"And one of the sisters married a wizard from India; So Alan, Blair and Sinjin are also her cousins. Which makes eleven." James added.

"You forgot Nalini." Blake reminded regretfully.

"Twelve." Sirius said.

"Then there's her father's side." James continued. "Delphina and Althea Weaver, and then Frang, Senga and Daniel Ness."

"Seventeen!" Sirius exclaimed, loudly, with a clap, causing the occupants of the carriage in front of them to look around.

"I suppose that is about twenty." Blake admitted.

"I'm pretty sure there's more." James said, now quite stumped. "Sirius, do you know?"

"Honestly, I keep better track of Mona's family than Alvina's." Sirius said. "I think that she has a few cousins in Slytherin, though."

"Estrella Malfoy." Peter squeaked.

"Estrella? That really sickly girl?" James asked. "...Aren't she and her brother, cousins of yours, Sirius?"

"...I prefer to forget that." Sirius shrugged.

"Why?" Blake asked.

"You know that their parents are cousins, right?"

"Seriously?" Lian asked.

"Yeah, Malina Malfoy is Amos Ness's sister. She filled his daughter, Ariel's, head with all this blood purity dung, and got her to marry her son Abraxas because there weren't enough, available, pure-blood women, who cared about that, at the time."

"Ew." Anwen said quietly.

"Yeah, 'Ew'." Sirius agreed. "That's why all this Pure-Blood stuff is stupid."

The occupants of the carriage were all silent after for the next few minutes. Nobody was really sure what to say after that, but eventually, as the carriage passed through the gates, James ended the uncomfortable silence.

"But, seriously, Blake, somebody needs to warn your brother; Otherwise, there _will_ be a dead body."

They all broke out into laughter after that. They pulled their luggage along with them into the castle, dropped it off and talked a little more until they had to split up. Blake, Lian and Anwen headed for the Huffelpuff table, while Sirius, James and Peter, headed to the Gryffindor table. Sirius, noticed that Godric, Mona and Peader were already sitting down and moved to get a seat across from them, but James stopped him. They liked the Feis, well enough, and James figured that they should give them a break. He also pointed out a perfect spot near, next to Lily and across from Fawn.

Fawn Davis, had her sleek, brown, hair pulled back in a headband and was craning her neck around, with her eyes peeled wide. She was obviously keeping looking for her ex-boyfriend. The three boys sat down across from her, and promptly began to test their theory.

"Hello Fawn." Sirius greeted in the friendliest manner he could muster.

"Hi." She said, briefly without looking at him.

"Who are you looking for?" James asked.

"Aiken, obviously." She snapped, still not looking at them.

"Oh, yes, we're so sorry to hear about your break-up." Sirius said, sounding very sincere.

That got her attention. She snapped her neck forward, and looked at them, rather alarmed.

"Break-up?" Her eyes somehow managed to grow. "What are you talking about? We didn't break-up? We're just going through a rough patch! It was a misunderstanding! He didn't actually mean it!"

"Really? Cause you _did_ jinx him." James said.

Lily looked up, now listening to their conversation.

"So?" Fawn replied as if it were no big deal.

"So you jinxed the guy..." Sirius said slowly. "And then he broke up with you... Why _wouldn't_ he mean it?"

"Well... Be -Because he loves me!" She declared.

Lily was now staring at Fawn in disbelief. James and Sirius were simply gleeful at the new weapon they had discovered, and were preparing to deliver the final blow.

"If he loves you so much, why does he have a new girlfriend?" Sirius asked.

" _WHAT_?!" Fawn shrieked, slapping her hands on the table. Her face was now red. "You're lying! You're just jealous of our love and trying to destroy it! That's the sort of thing you lot do for fun!" She accused, pointing a finger at them.

"Fawn," Lily spoke up, gently, "I think they might actually be telling the truth this time."

"AND WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW LILY?!" Fawn yelled. "YOU'RE ONLY FOURTEEN! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE! AND YOU PROBABLY NEVER WILL! NOBODY WANTS A BOOKWORM LIKE YOU!"

"And yet half the boys in this school are drooling over her." James defended.

At this, Lily rolled her eyes and moved to a different seat.

"You're lying!" Fawn seethed. "And I'll prove it when my Aiky gets here."

"And thus we've discovered the real reason he dumped you." Sirius said.

Fawn growled and resumed her scanning of the great hall. It was not long before Aiken Chang walked into the great hall, holding hands with Alvina Ness. Fawn's face contorted with rage and she clenched her fists.

Aiken and Alvina noticed Fawn glaring at them and walked to the Ravenclaw table. They stopped next to Brian Fei, and talked to each other, with their hands held, until it was time for everyone to be seated. Aiken sat next to Brian, and Alvina walked to Gryffindor table and took a seat next to her cousin, Godric. Fawn glared at her the whole way, while the Maurauders snickered.

A second later, the doors opened and Professor McGonagall was leading the new students down the center of the hall. The first years stared around the hall, in utter amazement and excitement, while the older students watched them with happiness and nostalgia. Older students waved to their younger siblings and cousins, who were among the first years.

Other students, began to comment on how cute some of the first years were. There was one in particular, that several students kept pointing out. Sirius recognized the black curls, as belonging to Godric's little sister, but he still couldn't get a good look at her face. He knew that the Feis were a rather good looking brood, but he did not know what could possibly be so special about this girl, that she was receiving so much attention.

It was not until the Deputy Headmistress called out "FEI, SORCHA", that he finally understood. The dainty girl ascended the steps, gracefully, which made her begin to stand out more to Sirius. When she turned around to face the other students, Sirius was dumbfounded. This girl was more beautiful than should be possible for an eleven year old (she looked like a fairy!). What truly set her apart, however, was not her beauty, but the fact that she clearly knew it. Sirius did not what it was, but something made him certain that she knew how to use her looks to her advantage, and she intended to do so.

The girl sat down on the stool with little effort, and the hat was placed on her head. It covered most of her face, but with the way she sat, it did not do much to take away from her fairy-like appearance. As the Sorting Hat deliberated over where to send the newest Fei, Sirius was internally chanting Slytherin. Where else could such a girl go? The girl started swinging her legs back and forth. Sirius could not help but feel that this should be an easy decision, and wonder what the hat was doing. Finally the Sorting Hat yelled out his decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Most of the Gryffindor table burst out in applause, with the Gryffindor Feis being the loudest. The hat was removed from Sorcha's head and she turned to face the table. She caught Sirius's eye and grinned, before descending the steps and walking to her sister's side. Sirius had a bad feeling about this girl.

* * *

 _This story is a better written prequel to a not-as-well written story that I'm still writing, Gift of Black. I'm writing this to make more sense of the past events, and understand Sirius and Sorcha's relationship, both for myself and the readers of Gift of Black._

 _I'm sure that there are several characters that you will recognize from the books and Gift of Black. Many of the characters are never actually in the books but are related to some of the characters, it will probably be easy to figure out the relations._

 _Thank you for reading, reviews would be appreciated, even critiques._


	2. How They Met

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

 **Young And Dumb**

 **Chapter Two: How They Met**

Sirius was at a crossroads. On the one hand, he did not want to seem like he was intimidated by the Feis, but on the other hand, he wanted to stay _far_ away from their little sister. He had never spoken to her, but something about her screamed Slytherin, and he _hated_ Slytherins. He hated them so much that he did not even want to talk to the girl, despite the fact that it would show her brothers that they could not scare him.

James was a little taken aback, by Sirius's hesitation and rather shocked by his reasons. He admitted that he thought the girl was rotten as well, but he had thought she was more _their_ brand of rotten, rather than the Slytherin kind. In the end, Remus reminded them that they did like the Feis, and maybe it would be best not to push them too far. That was his out, Sirius supposed, and he would take it. Especially after he saw Sorcha convincing a second year boy to do her potions homework. It would be best to stay clear of her.

It was only a month later that he was woken up by the very girl that he was avoiding. He was sleeping on his side, when he felt a sharp tug on his ear. He opened his eyes, and tried to jolt up, when he realized that somebody was using their body to pin him down, and their hand to cover his mouth. James sometimes woke him up like this to cause late night trouble without waking up the others, but this did not feel like James. Whoever was holding him down, was much lighter and had long soft hair that was tickling his face. The hand over his mouth was also very soft.

It was a girl! There was a girl in his bed! Was it Tawny or Mona? ...Probably not Mona. Maybe it was Beth! Then he remembered that she was not in Gryffindor, so it was highly unlikely that it was her. As his mind woke up a bit more, he also remembered that none of those girls were flat-chested like this one. They also were not this small. Who was in his bed?

"Shhh!" The girl whispered, before releasing him.

Sirius turned over and nearly fell out of bed when he saw the eleven year old girl. Her hand covered his mouth, before he could make a sound.

"Quiet!" She hissed. "You don't want to wake my brothers, do you?"

This was bad. Peader and Godric Fei's rooms were not that far away and Sirius's roommate, Ben, was always tattling on the Marauders. He would have to be careful with how to proceed if he wanted to survive. He looked around and noticed that the curtains around his bed were drawn shut. She was up to something, but what? Maybe this was a nightmare, but he could not take the risk of waking up Ben if it was not.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I need your help." She replied.

"With what?" Sirius asked.

"My brother took my cat again. He hid her and turned her into a cup."

"What?!" Sirius whispered.

"I need you to help me get her back and undo the spell." She elaborated.

"Well I don't want to." Sirius stated. "So go away."

"If you don't, I'll scream." She threatened.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the girl. She gestured to the curtain behind him and he got the hint. Ben was sleeping in the bed diagonal to him, and there would be no talking his way out of this, especially if she had a good lie prepared.

"Why do you need my help?" Sirius asked.

"Because I know you can do it." She replied. "And I know that you have a bad enough reputation with my brothers that you won't risk me waking up the rat."

She raised her sharp eyebrows at him, indicating that she was prepared to scream any minute.

"Fine. Fine. Where is your stupid cat?"

"In Professor Bulstrode's room." She said.

"Seriously? The creepy old guy?" Sirius groaned.

Sorcha nodded her head.

"Fine." Sirius grumbled. "Wait here a second, while I nick James's invisibility cloak."

Sirius slipped through the curtains and padded over to his Remus's dresser, grabbing his wand on the way. He opened the bottom drawer, shoved the clothing aside, tapped the surface twice with his wand and whispered their secret password. The wood glowed and a handle appeared, allowing him to lift the false bottom and pull out the invisibility cloak. He set the drawer back to it's original state and threw the cloak over himself.

Slipping on a pair of shoes, Sirius returned to the bed and pulled aside the curtain. He lifted the cloak and motioned for Sorcha to join him. They exited the dorm and began their journey to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's room. They were quiet as they went through the portrait hole and neither spoke for a few minutes, before Sirius asked a question that was bothering him.

"How did your cat get in Professor Bulstrode's room?"

"Peader had an older student help him disguise it as a gift from his niece."

"And how do you know this?" Sirius asked, wanting to know if he should trust her information.

Sorcha glanced at him and looked away before answering.

"Can't tell you."

Sirius stopped.

"Then why should I trust you?! We could be going on a wild thestral chase!"

"I know that you're sending fake love notes to both Lucius Malfoy and your brother so that you can trap them both in Moaning Myrtle's stall three weeks from now." She informed him.

Sirius froze completely and stared at the girl, completely dumbfounded. He had only told James about that plan. How could she possibly know that?

"How... How do you know that."

"Can't tell you." She repeated. "But I think that should be reason enough to believe me."

"I... Yeah. I suppose it is." Sirius numbly replied, before moving onward,

When they reached Professor Bulstrode's door, Sirius paused to figure out his plan of action. He could not leave Sorcha out here without the invisibility cloak, but he would need it too. He also needed her to tell him which cup was the cat. Somehow, they would have to either get the professor out of bed or put him in a deeper sleep. Sirius wished he had made a plan before they left the dorm, but he had been too tired and confused to even think about it.

"What do you have in your pockets?" He asked Sorcha, noticing that she had a robe on.

"Just my wand and the stuff I snatched out of your nightstand." She replied, casually.

"What?! When -You -How -Why?!" Sirius blabbered.

"I figured you'd be too tired to remember it, and I didn't want to risk waking anyone up by reminding you."

"Okay. Fine. Good" Sirius replied, while holding his hand to his face. "Do you have any dungbombs?"

"Yeah."

She reached into her pocket, pulled out three brown balls and held them out to Sirius.

"Good. We only need one." He said, taking the one he would use.

Sorcha pocketed the remaining bombs and Sirius pulled her along with him to the door. He slowly pushed the door ajar and scanned the small bit of the room he could see. After determining his target, he tightened his grip on Sorcha's arm and aimed for a table filled with glass objects. Warning the younger child to hold onto the invisibility cloak, he lodged the dungbomb at the center of the assortment. The moment it hit, creating a loud crash, Sirius slammed the door shut loudly and ran down the corridor, slapping his feet against the stones as hard as he could and dragging Sorcha along with him.

Once he heard the old man following them, he softened his footsteps and pulled Sorcha against the wall. They quietly slipped into an empty classroom and closed the door softly, just before the professor passed. A minute passed before Sirius opened the door and led Sorcha back down the corridor.

"We have to be quick. I don't know how long it'll be before he comes back. Understand?" Sirius whispered.

Sorcha nodded in confirmation. Sirius cast a bubble head charm on both himself and Sorcha before entering the room. He glanced around the usual surfaces that one would keep a cup on, but was stopped by Sorcha tugging on his sleeve and leading him over to a trunk. Not having time to question her certainty (and knowing that he would not get a real answer), Sirius disarmed the security spells placed upon the trunk, before opening it.

Sorcha immediately grabbed for an object wrapped in purple velvet. She shifted the velvet aside to check it's contents. Confirming that this was the object she sought, Sorcha re-wrapped the cloth.

"This is it." She whispered.

Sirius nodded and shut the trunk. He thought about re-casting the security spells, but decided against it when he heard footsteps in the hallway. The two Gryffindors, stood up and slipped out the door, just as the man resembling a vulture returned with a disgruntled looking Professor McGonagall.

"And you're sure it wasn't Peeves?" She asked, pinching her nose shut.

Sirius and Sorcha walked quietly, as the professors spoke. They could easily lose Bulstrode if they wanted, but McGonagall was another story.

"Couldn't be! I 'eard footsteps!"

"But you didn't _see_ anything and Peeves could easily fake footsteps!" She reasoned.

"Still could've been a student!"

McGonagall sighed.

" _Fine._ I shall go wake _all_ the other heads of houses, as _well_ as the Professor Dumbledore, so that we may _all_ investigate this incident, which I would have thought you could handle all on your own, given your field of expertise." McGonagall snapped, before conjuring up a patronus.

The moment they were far enough away, Sirius and Sorcha picked up the pace and ran to portrait of the fat lady. Sirius convinced Sorcha to give the password, reasoning that the fat lady was far less likely to recognize her voice and nobody would believe that she was capable of breaking through Bulstrode's security spells. Once inside, Sirius pulled off the cloak and faced Sorcha.

"Give me the goblet and everything you took from my nightstand. Now!"

"But what about-"

"Tomorrow. I promise. But right now we have to cover our tracks. Okay?"

Sorcha glanced at the velvet wrapped goblet in her hands, nervously, before handing it to Sirius.

"Fine." She said, before emptying her pockets.

"Good. Now go to bed. If you can't fake sleeping, be reading a book for just in case they come checking on us. If we all get called down at once, either bring it with you or leave it laying on your bed."

"Right." She agreed before running up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

Sirius watched her disappear, before heading up to his own dorm room. Once inside, he hid the goblet and invisibility cloak in the drawer and sealed it. He cast a spell to put away his stolen possessions, and cast a few more random spells for in case they checked his wand. He flopped himself back into bed and pulled out some homework, to feign innocence.

Ten minutes later, he heard the door open and saw Dumbledore entering with a lantern. They stared at each other for a second before Sirius spoke.

"Professor? What're you doing here?"

"There's been an incident which requires investigating." Dumbledore informed him calmly. "May I ask what _you're_ doing, Mr. Black?"

"History of Magic homework, I thought it might help me get to sleep... Hasn't worked yet."

"Ah, well I'm sorry to say, but your own history, as well as the fact that you're awake, make you a suspect."

"What?! Professor, I swear! I haven't been doing any late night snacking!"

This outburst caused his room mates to wake up.

"Sirius, what're you yelling about?" James groaned.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Remus questioned. "What's going on?"

The others, were stirring and staring questioningly at the headmaster.

"There's been a robbery, and Mr. Black is currently a suspect." Dumbledore informed them.

"But I haven't been in the kitchen since last year!" Sirius protested.

Dumbledore sighed.

"If this is an act, it's a very good one, Mr. Black. I would not be here over a midnight snack. Now I'm afraid that I'll have to ask to ask to see your wand."

"Fine." Sirius grunted, as he thrust his wand at Dumbledore.

"Thank you." Dumbledore replied, before touching the tips of both his and Sirius's wand together.

A pink orb appeared above the wand and Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"You were practicing transfiguration?" He asked.

"Yes. On Ben's things." Sirius admitted.

He pointed at his last room mate's bed, which had pink robes hanging off it. The blonde boy finally took notice and became enraged.

"Sirius! Undo it now! Fix it! I can't go around looking like this!"

The other boys snickered at Ben's misfortune. Dumbledore handed Sirius's wand back, but insisted on searching his belongings. The look he gave, though, told Sirius that Dumbledore knew he had the goblet, but that he would not find it among his belongings. After finding nothing, he sent Sirius down to the common room to wait.

Sirius did as instructed and found Sorcha sitting on a chair by the fire and reading a book. Obviously, she had been weeded out for staying awake as well. The two of them ignored each other. Sirius laid down on a couch, closed his eyes and intended to enjoy a few minutes of peace. It did not last long.

Professor McGonagall soon came down the stairs, dragging both Alvina and Fawn with her. The two girls were both sniping at each other, as Professor McGonagall held them apart with surprising strength. Sirius opened his eyes and sat up to watch. Sorcha looked up from her book and her eyes widened upon seeing her cousin being dragged down. Alvina's strawberry blonde hair was unusually neat for having been in bed, and Fawn looked like she had made a failed attempt at disillusionment on herself. Some portions of her body blended in with her background while others did not.

"Alvina?"

"Sorcha! What are you doing down here?"

"Obviously causing trouble, just like the rest of your rotten family!" Fawn snapped.

At this, Alvina broke out of McGonagall's grip and shoved Fawn to the floor.

"Leave my family out of this you crazy bitch! She's just a kid!" She yelled.

Fawn tried to jump up, but was frozen mid-action. Alvina was as well.

"It is time for _both_ of to calm down and act like educated and respectable _ladies_!" Professor McGonagall seethed, pointing her wand at both girls. "I'm going to release the spell, but _both_ of you are to take seats away from each other. Understood?"

Alvina was released first and walked over to Sorcha's chair. She picked her younger cousin up and placed her on her lap as she sat down and asked what the girl was doing in the common room. McGonagall released Fawn and watched her like a hawk as she took a seat across the fire from the two cousins.

"Fawn, is there any particular reason why you appear to be missing body parts?" Sirius asked.

"None of your business!" She snapped.

"None of you are to speak until the headmaster comes down." McGonagall reprimanded.

They sat in silence, with the seventh year girls occasionally glaring, whenever Alvina looked up from her cousin's book. Sirius continued to lounge on the couch. It was not long before Dumbledore came down the stairs with Godric, Oswin Padmore and Beau Dennis. Godric shot a questioning look at his sister and cousin, who both shrugged. He finally spotted Sirius, as he made his way around the couch to sit down.

"Of course you'd be involved." He grumbled.

"Hey, all I did was turn a roommate's clothing pink! I don't know what this is about, honest!"

"Mr. Black, how many times have I told you to not to use Mr. Abney or his belongings for your homework?" McGonagall scolded.

"I'm not really sure on the exact number." Sirius replied as Oswin prodded him to sit up and move over.

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Now please find a seat Mr. Fei."

"Yes, Professor." Godric said, before sitting in an armchair.

"Now," Professor Dumbledore began, standing in front of the fireplace, "for those of you who have not been made aware; Professor Bulstrode was robbed tonight, and the suspect is believed to have been a student. All the houses are being checked, and any students who are awake or showing signs of suspicion are being questioned, so I'll have to ask all of you what you were doing up? Ms. Davis, would you like to go first?"

Fawn's face turned bright red.

"I -I was -I-"

"She was spying on me and my boyfriend." Alvina cut in.

"I take it that you are referring to Aiken Chang?" Dumbledore clarified.

"Yes." Alvina admitted, her face tinging pink. "We met up in an old classroom."

"Alvina!" Godric groaned.

"Ms. Ness!" McGonagall snapped, rather appalled. "I expected better of both you and Mr. Chang! Fifteen points from Gryffindor _and_ Ravenclaw!"

"You can lose points for studying?!" Sorcha asked.

Everybody looked at the eleven year old, unsure of what to say. Alvina froze in shock, she forgot how innocent her cousin's mind was. Dumbledore caught Godric's eye and gave him a look that said that it was up to him, to decide what to tell his little sister. The young man got the clue, and spoke up.

"Well, it's not that she was studying, it's because you're not supposed to be in the halls after hours."

"Why?"

"Because those are the rules, and it could be dangerous."

"How?"

"It doesn't matter, let's just- get this over with so we can go back to bed. Professor, can we just ask Sorcha what she was doing and send her to bed now, in case anything unsavory comes up?"

"Normally, that would be a good idea," Dumbledore said, "but unfortunately, there is some alarming evidence against your sister."

"What?! But how?! Sorcha wouldn't do anything like that!"

"I was just reading!" Sorcha whined.

"Calm down, both of you!" McGonagall snapped.

"Thank you Minerva. Now, the Fat Lady said that sometime after Ms. Davis and Ms. Ness returned, she was given the password by a disembodied voice. The voice had an Irish accent and belonged to a young girl. Ms. Fei also happened to have been fully awake when Professor McGonagall checked her dorm."

"But she was reading." Godric pointed out. "And I know that my sister is a brat-"

"-Hey!-"

"-but she would never _steal_ anything! She doesn't even take extra servings without asking!"

"I didn't steal anything! I swear! I was just up late reading!"

"Yeah! Sorcha would never do that!" Alvina argued.

"Unfortunately, we cannot simply take your word for it." Professor McGonagall informed them.

"Wait." Godric argued. "You said the voice was disembodied!"

"Yes." Dumbledore replied.

"Then how could it have been Sorcha? She's not invisible!"

"There are many ways to become invisible." McGonagall reminded him.

"Yes, but she's a first year and she's only been taking classes a month. Even if this is the best wizarding school in the world, there's no way that she could possibly be practicing such advanced magic!"

"True," Dumbledore said, "That is why we are investigating everybody who is awake, either your sister had an accomplice, she was framed, or Peeves is having fun again."

The next hour passed with each student being questioned and having their wands checked. Sirius was rather surprised when he saw Sorcha's wand, it was silver and encrusted with jewels. He wondered why a first year would have such a flashy wand. Not long into the investigation, Sirius knew that Dumbledore had figured the whole thing out. He did not understand why, but Dumbledore usually knew when he was the culprit and, most times, kept the secret.

After determining that there was no evidence linking any of the Gryffindors to the crime, all seven students were released.

"Hey Alvina, wanna ' _study_ ' with me?" Oswin asked, as she walked passed him with Sorcha.

Godric hit him.

"Padmore!" Professor McGonagall snapped.

"Sorry, I don't study with trolls." Alvina calmly replied.

Fawn rolled her eyes and shoved passed her rival. This caught Professor McGonagall's attention and reminded her of the rules that hadbeen broken.

"Ms. Davis, come along with me to the hospital wing, we need to fix this disillusionment problem. There will also be another ten points taken from Gryffindor, for your late night wandering."

"What?!"

"The two of you and Mr. Chang will also have detention for a week. Report to my office after breakfast, I will have your punishments chosen by then."

It seemed that there was not much that you could get by her. The others continued back to their dorms as McGonagall led the half disappearing girl out of the tower.

"Sirius." Dumbledore called out.

Sirius turned to look down at the professor from the stairs.

"I take it that you did not intend to be up this late, did you?"

"No sir, I didn't."

"I thought so. I hope that you did not do anything you regret."

"...didn't really have much choice either way." Sirius replied.

"I think we always have a choice, Sirius." The headmaster said, before turning to exit the room.

Sirius watched Professor Dumbledore walk through the portrait hole, before turning to continue back to his dorm. Upon opening the door, he saw his three friends were up and waiting for him, while the nosy blonde was fast asleep.

"Knocked him out?" Sirius asked.

"Does it really count as 'knocking him out' if we used magic?" James asked.

"Probably." Remus answered. "Anyways, what did you do and do I want to know what you've hidden in my drawer this time?"

"Don't worry about it. It's just... you know what, never mind. It's a long story, and I just want to go to sleep. You wouldn't believe me anyways."

"What? Sirius you always tell us everything!" James said.

"Even when we don't want to hear it." Remus added. "How bad is it?"

"It's not bad! It's just a cat!"

"There's a cat in my drawer?!"

"NO!... Yes! There is! But it's not a cat right now!"

"Sirius." Remus warned slowly.

"What have you been doing tonight?!" James asked.

"It's a cat that was stolen from another student and turned into a cup and then sent to Professor Bulstrode. She asked me to get it back for her. It's no big deal. I just made a slight fumble tonight, Dumbledore knows, but he's not saying anything."

"So we're not in trouble then?" Peter asked.

"No. We're fine. He seems to have figured out most of it, including the girl."

"A girl, huh?" James asked raising his eyebrows.

"Bet that's why he went by himself. Wanted to impress her." Remus teased.

"Believe me, that is not it at all." Sirius groaned.

"What's her name?" Peter asked.

"I am _not_ telling you! I just want to go to bed and forget this whole thing!"

"What about the cat?" Remus asked.

"I'll deal with it tomorrow." Sirius groaned as he flopped into bed.

The others seemed to accept this and stopped talking _to_ him. They did, however, continue talking about him and the mystery girl. It seemed that they were determined to believe that he was trying to impress her. He wanted to correct them, but he also did not want to admit that he had been successfully threatened by an eleven year old girl, especially not Sorcha Fei.

The next morning at breakfast, he got an owl with a letter from an unknown sender. He opened it up and read the messy script.

 _When? Where?_

 _Write it down and then burn the parchment. I'll meet you there._

Sirius stared at the parchment in shock. How would she know? Probably the same way she knew everything else. He quickly excused himself to the bathroom and locked himself into a stall to scribble his response without the other Marauders looking over his shoulder.

 _LUNCHTIME. LIBRARY. MUGGLE FICTION._

He looked at the parchment for a second before disintegrating it with his wand. His return to the table was met with more teasing about the mystery girl. If only they knew.

While not entirely surprised, Sirius was a little disturbed when Sorcha was waiting for him in the emptiest section of the library. How did she know what he wrote in the bathroom? She glanced up at him from the book she was reading, and pushed herself off the wall that she had been leaning against.

"Do you have her?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. But before I turn her back, I want to ask you a few questions." Sirius whispered back.

"I'm not telling you how I know things."

"Fine, but I still have some other questions."

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"What your brother did is obviously against the rules. Why didn't you just ask one of your siblings or the staff for help?"

"Because then he'd tell them what I did!" She exclaimed quietly.

"What did you do?"

"...some... things that I... really shouldn't be doing."

"Like getting boys to do your homework?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe."

Sirius raised an eyebrow questioningly before continuing on to the next question.

"What's up with your wand?"

"What about it?" She asked genuinely confused.

"Why does an eleven year old have such a gaudy wand?"

"Oh! That! The wand chooses the wizard. Duh! I thought that everybody knew that."

"I _know_ that Ollivander does not sell jewel encrusted wands. He might add them for a fee- but I highly doubt that he had it prepared and sitting around to choose you."

"I wouldn't know, I didn't get my wand from Ollivander. It's a family heirloom, and it chose _me_. How come you never asked Godric or Alvina about their wands? They've got heirloom wands too."

He pictured Godric and Alvina's wands in his head and remembered that they were quite unusual too. Godric's was a dark gold and spiraled with emeralds, while Alvina's was white and sparkly with a gem hanging off the back.

"I guess that I never noticed before. Theirs' aren't as flashy as yours, and they're older than me, so it didn't strike me as very odd when I first saw them."

"Can I have my cat now?"

"Soon. I just want to ask a few more questions."

"Ugh! Hurry up then!"

"Why are the wands so flashy? You said that they're family heirlooms, but it doesn't explain all the gems and sparkles. Is there something special about them?"

Sorcha seemed to freeze for a moment. It seemed that the conversation was going somewhere that she did not want it to.

"No." She finally whispered. "No. One of the first Feis was just... extravagant. She made these wands for her children and grandchildren. They're just like normal wands... they just look different."

"Some of the materials used to make them, probably aren't used anymore, right?" Sirius asked.

The young girl stared at him again. She seemed to be hiding something and was trying to find a way to avoid the conversation.

"If you want to know about our wands, you should just ask Godric or Brian, they know way more about wandlore, and ours specifically." She told him in rushed words. "Can I _please_ have my cat now?"

Sirius realized that she probably was not supposed to be telling much about her family's wands. He could hardly blame them for being cautious, he had read enough about the Elder Wand to know that wizards would do horrible things to get a powerful wand. It would not surprise him if she was scared and ready to run to her brother.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so nosy. I was just really curious, I've just never seen a wand like that before." He apologized as he dug through his book bag. "Here."

Sirius glanced around before placing the marble goblet on window ledge. He tapped it twice and whispered the incantation to undo the transfiguration. The cup began to shake and started morphing into a grey kitten, with white boots and matching patches on it's nose and chest. The moment the transformation was complete, Sorcha swiped the kitten up in a hug and began to stroke it's fur.

"Oh! Lalapaws! I'm so happy to have you back!" She whispered.

"Your cat's name is Lalapaws?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Yes." Sorcha said defensively. "Why?"

"Did you name it?"

"Of course!"

"Your children are gonna hate you."

"Jerk."

"I'm just stating an observation." Sirius defended. "Anyways, I'm gonna go to lunch. Bye!" He said, turning his back to her and waving.

"Hey! Wait!"

"What?" Sirius groaned as he turned back around to face her. "I thought we were done with each other once you got your cat back."

"I just thought you might like this." Sorcha said, pulling her hand out of her book bag and holding up a clump of silvery hair. "Malfoy is narcissistic and likes girls with the same hair color as him. I got a lock of Narcissa Black's hair, thought you might find a way to use it."

Sirius stared at the tiny girl in disbelief for a moment before stepping forward and taking the hair.

"I don't suppose that you'll tell me how you got this, will you?" He asked.

"No. I figured I owed you after last night, so... yeah, I took some girl's hair. It was the best I could come up with. Sorry."

"No, no, this is fantastic, I can already think of a few ways to use this. Thanks!"

"Good. Have fun, then! I'm gonna take Lalapaws back to the common room now. Bye!"

Sirius watched the girl run out of the library and looked back down at the hair. He was certainly right about Sorcha being awful, but he was less sure about her being _Slytherin_ awful. He stuffed the hair in an empty flask and walked down to the Great Hall.

Whatever Sorcha was, she was definitely a good ally to have, Sirius decided. The next year was spent much the same as those two days -minus late night interrogations. For the most part, they avoided being seen together, partially so as not to antagonize Godric and partially to keep Sorcha's reputation spotless and suspicion at bay. Sirius's friends were convinced that he really did have a secret girlfriend, and Sirius truthfully denied it, but his secretive behavior only increased their belief. The only real downside to his alliance with Sorcha, was that she would not help with any prank she found too cruel. Locking Lucius and Regulus in Moaning Myrtle's stall was a one time deal for her.

Their public interactions were few and far in between (usually consisting of taunts and conversations with her siblings) until Sorcha's second year. She was finally busted for not doing her homework, and Professor McGonagall had asked Lily and Remus to make sure that she did her own homework. For reasons unknown to everyone, Sorcha was completely opposed to doing her homework and Remus eventually recruited James and Sirius to help with the task. That was how Sirius Black and Sorcha Fei 'officially' met, and it was the story that their friends and family would believe for decades to come.

* * *

 _I'm a little disappointed wit myself for the last few chapters, but I was not sure how else to end it (plus it was really dragging on). The next chapter will most likely not be up for awhile, but you can probably figure out several plot points easily enough, especially if you've read Gift of Black._

 _On a slightly unrelated note; While the news of the recent death in the Harry Potter community is sad, I think that people need to remember that Severus Snape died in 1998 and Alan Rickman died in 2016. As fantastically as he portrayed Snape, that was not his only great role, and he was his own person as well. (Also the people posting Lily/Snape shipping stuff in tribute to him are driving me nuts!)_

 _Once again, thank you for reading!_


	3. We're Not Blind

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

 **Young and Dumb**

 **Chapter Three: We're Not Blind (Part One)**

"Hey, Sirius, can you do my potions homework?" Sorcha asked from her seat at the coffee table in front of the fire.

"Sure." Sirius agreed, lazily holding his hand out for the book and parchment, while sprawled out on the couch.

James scoffed as the second year girl happily perked up as she handed her homework to the his friend. Sirius casually began to scratch down the answers with ease. From time to time Sorcha would peek at his work and ask about the answers. As Sirius explained the uses of star grass, he found himself thinking it rather odd that this girl had an interest in learning, just so long as she did not do the work.

"Sirius! Why are you doing her homework?!" Remus demanded as he entered the common room.

"Because it's faster than making her do it, and I'd rather not spend all day inside because she's being a brat."

"I am not!" Sorcha defended.

Remus walked over to Sirius and jerked the book and parchment out of his hands, before depositing them in front of Sorcha.

"The point of monitoring her, is not simply to complete her homework, but to make sure that _she_ does it _herself_ and that she _learns_."

"She _has_ been learning." Sirius informed his friend.

"Have not!"

All three boys glanced at the younger girl for a moment, taken aback by her indigence.

"Hey, git, I'm trying to help you here." Sirius reminded her.

"Oh... Sorry"

"Look Remus," James cut in, "she's been watching him work and asking him to explain the answers. It may not be conventional, but she _is_ learning and it's less of a pain this way."

Remus thought about what his friends said for a moment. He had to admit that they did have a point, she did not seem to learn by conventional methods; and even Lily was getting worn down by the duty of making Sorcha do her homework. He also recognized the sacrifice that James and Sirius were making by helping them... Well, the sacrifice that _Sirius_ was making (James volunteered early on, so that he could spend more time with Lily). He turned to Sorcha and began to quiz her.

"Sorcha, is Bubotuber pus healing or harmful?"

"Harmful when concentrated, but when diluted and mixed into potions, it can be used for healing and acne removal."

"What happens when you hear a mandrake cry?"

"You die... if it's an adult. The babies just knock you out."

"If I was to throw an object at you, what spell would you use to slow it down?"

" _Arresto Momentum_?" Sorcha answered uncertainly.

"Correct. Do you think you could use it right now?"

"Possibly."

Remus pulled a bottle of ink from his bag and threw it at the uncertain girl. She snatched her wand off the table and yelled out the incantation in a panicked voice. The bottle slowed down and continued it's descent with jerky movements, before landing on the table.

"I suppose that's not too bad. In the future, don't yell the incantation. Say it calmly, the fall will be smoother. Understand?"

"Yes... I think so."

"Spells can be heavily influenced by our emotions as well as how we say them."

"Got it."

Remus, sighed before looking back at his friends.

"I suppose you can finish up today like this. I'll talk to McGonagall about it tomorrow, the final decision rests with her."

"Thanks Remus!" Sirius chirped. "We should be done in five minutes!"

"What about the rest of her homework?"

"Sirius already did her Herbology and Charms work. I helped her write her History of Magic essay." James informed him.

"You're weak, man." The prefect scoffed at Sirius.

After multiple discussions with both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress, regarding Sorcha's homework, a compromise was reached. Sorcha would do her homework in an empty classroom, with help from Remus, Lily, James and Sirius. They would _explain_ the answers to her, but she was write down her interpretation of what they told her. The homework sessions began to go faster than they used to, but still not as fast as when Sirius just did the work and explained the answers.

Now that Sirius and Sorcha 'officially' knew each other and Godric had graduated, it became a common sight to see the two together. Most students did not mind, but several of Sorcha's family members would keep a close eye on them. The teachers had mixed feelings about their association; Sirius was a brilliant student and Sorcha's classwork had improved drastically in her time spent with him, but he was a troublemaker and they were worried that he would corrupt the (mostly) sweet girl.

It was a snowy day and Sorcha was skipping down the corridor and questioning Sirius about Hogsmeade as he walked. She would not be allowed to go until next year, and the prospect of leaving the school was so exciting, for her, that she wanted to know everything.

"I heard that there's a big house called the Shrieking Shack and that it's haunted! Is it?!"

"In a way, I suppose." Sirius replied, trying not to give too much away.

"Have you been inside?!"

"Yes, but I almost lost my head, and we're not supposed to go in there, so don't tell anyone; otherwise I'll get a nice big 'told you so' along with a detention and some time in Azkaban."

Sorcha laughed.

"They don't send people to Azkaban for trespassing!"

"You want to risk it?" Sirius asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Sorcha stopped for a moment and thought about it.

"No. Not really." She replied, before resuming her skipping.

"What about the Hog's Head? I heard that there are trolls there."

"Nope. Sorry. Just a few particularly smelly patrons in a bar full of shady characters, but when they get drunk enough, it can be hard to tell the difference."

"Is it true that you once had a broomstick race there?"

"Yes. We got two weeks of detention for that one."

"What about the secret tunnels?"

"Let me guess. You're not gonna tell me how you know about those."

"Mm-hm!"

"Is it seer's blood?"

"Nope!" The girl laughed gleefully as she made a spinning skip in front of him.

"Brian told me that your great-grandmother was a seer."

"So?"

"So, I think that's how you know all these things."

"Well it's not."

"So you're saying that you haven't inherited any psychic abilities?"

"No. I have. Just nothing that strong or worthy of being called 'seer's blood'. I just have vague feelings about things."

"Like what?"

"Something embarrassing is going to happen to Peader," she began ticking off while still skipping around nonchalantly, "a sense of dread for Alvina, Prewitt is going to fail a few classes, your lot is going to owe Chang, and _you're_ going to take me to Hogsmeade."

Sorcha stopped skipping and was now facing Sirius, who was chuckling at her.

"You're right, that's not seer's blood, you're just planning on blackmailing me again."

"No I'm not. I'm just saying that you're gonna take me."

"Because you're gonna blackmail me!"

"Oh please! When was the last time I blackmailed you?"

"Last week."

"That wasn't blackmail! You asked what I knew and I told you! And then you gave me your liquorice wand! I thought that was just your way of showing that you were impressed!"

"So you're saying that I blackmailed myself?"

"Yes! Now how are you getting me to Hogsmead?"

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, as he thought it over. Finally he reached a decision and sighed, before looking back at his young companion.

"Meet me by the giant mirror on the fourth floor at three o'clock, tomorrow -and dress warm."

Sorcha squealed and hugged Sirius around the middle.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Alright! I get it! You're welcome! Now let go of me before your family puts a price on my head!"

"Oops! Sorry!"

The next afternoon; Sirius, James and Remus had all worked together to disguise Sorcha, after meeting in the tunnel. Her black, curly hair was now blonde and pulled into two messy plaits. They turned her eyes brown and made her wear an old pair of glasses that James had snatched from Filch's confiscation drawer. Finally they added some freckles, a ruddy face and button nose, before heading back to Hogsmeade. Now, all four Marauders watched the young girl zooming, excitedly, around Honeydukes.

"We better not get caught." James said for umpteenth time.

"We won't." Sirius reassured him. "Why are you getting so worked up, anyways? We've done way worse."

"I don't know, Sirius," Remus said, "generally it only involves _us._ But this time, you snuck a _second year_ off school grounds, without adult supervision, and there's a dark wizard on the rise."

"Oh come off it! Hogsmeade is safe! Dumbledore is up the road -and as for adult supervision- Look around! There're aurors on every corner, not to mention the good citizens themselves. Besides, Sorcha's a pure-blood. Lily is in far more danger of being attacked by a Death Eater than Sorcha is!"

"You know that the Death Eaters don't see it that way, right?" Remus reminded him.

Sirius let out a frustrated groan.

"Look, that part doesn't even matter. The point is that nothing is going to happen, because my first two points remain. Sorcha is _safe_ , Lily is _safe_ , we're _all_ safe. Nobody will get hurt, and nobody will get caught. So stop worrying and enjoy yourselves!"

"What about Lily?" James asked.

"Didn't I just tell you that she'll be fine?!" Sirius snapped.

"No, I meant what if she finds out? She'll be furious, and all the work I've put into impressing her will be wasted."

"If it's any consolation, she still finds you repulsive." Remus commented, earning snickers from Sirius and Peter.

"Thanks Moony." James replied sarcastically.

"Seriously, though, why did you bring her?" Remus asked.

"She asked." Sirius shrugged.

"Did she blackmail you again?" Peter asked.

"No!"

"Then why did you bring her?" James asked.

"I just told you! She asked, so I brought her."

"So you're saying that you put all of us at risk, just because a pretty girl asked?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is _not_ like that!... At all! She's _twelve_!" Sirius hissed defensively.

"Merlin, Sirius, I thought you were only joking about hitting on her! The Feis won't be happy about this!" James cracked, earning laughter from the other two Marauders.

"You lot are sick." Sirius said as his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I'm gonna remind her not to talk to the other students."

Sirius stalked off while his friends laughed at his expense. He walked over to Sorcha, who was placing a tin of sugared butterfly wings in her basket, and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. As he spoke to his charge, Sirius glanced around and noticed Blake Chang watching them. As unlikely as it seemed, Sirius got the impression that Blake suspected the bespectacled girl's identity. With that in mind, he told Sorcha that they were heading out to the Three Broomsticks, and she should hurry up.

Sorcha grabbed a few more items and paid for them quickly before heading out with the boys. While they were eating at the Three Broomsticks, a few classmates asked who the girl was, as they did not recognize her. Remus told them that she was his younger cousin, who's parents were letting her visit. Afterwards Sorcha surprised Sirius, by asking to go to the potions shop.

"Why do you need to go there?" He asked, as he walked her there.

The other three had headed off to Zonko's, declaring Sorcha to be Sirius's responsibility.

"I need to get some potions ingredients."

"What for?"

"Alvina."

"Can't she get them herself? She's got more money than you."

Sorcha took a swipe at his arm, but missed. Sirius laughed.

"Seriously, Sorcha, she also has better access to potions ingredients than you. So why are _you_ buying them?"

Sorcha sighed before explaining.

"She hasn't been feeling good for awhile now."

"She's sick?"

"No. I meant it like...sad, feeling down, stressed. That sort of thing."

"Oh."

"You know that she's training to become a healer, right?"

"Yeah. I remember."

"Well, I heard that she's seeing a lot of scary stuff because of the war. And they need a lot of help, so she kind of lives at St. Mungo's so that she can train faster. She doesn't get to see friends and family much. "

"What about Aiken? Are they still seeing each other?"

"Yeah, he visits her when he can, but some of his co-workers died, so he's working more to help them keep up."

"Let me guess, the dead co-workers were muggle-born."

"Yeah..."

Sorcha was now looking down at her feet and kicking up snow as she walked.

"Hey, look, I know it's sad and horrible, but you shouldn't let this get you down." Sirius said. "Dumbledore will end this war soon enough, and even that 'Dark Lord' knows it. I mean honestly, look around, we're able to walk around this town freely, because he's afraid of Dumbledore, who's all the way back at the school!"

Sirius was shocked when he saw the child flash him a wry smile.

"I wish I could believe you, Sirius -I want to, but I know that you're wrong."

"How could you possibly know that?" Sirius asked (flippantly?).

"It's just a feeling, okay! I just feel like this war is going to go on much longer than you think, and that something absolutely awful is going to happen before it's all over!"

"You're really a pessimist, aren't you?" He asked as he stopped walking and looked at her.

Sorcha snapped around to glare at him before huffing angrily and running away. Sirius paused for a moment, wondering why she would bother running off when she could not get back to school by herself. It did not take him long to realize that logic was irrelevant in this situation (as it often was with this girl), and he should probably catch her before she got herself into trouble.

"Hey! Sor-" Sirius stopped himself mid-sentence, remembering that some of her siblings were in town. "Get back here!" He yelled as he took off after her.

As he chased after her, Sirius began making plans to never sneak her out again. Sorcha ran onto a crowded street, and Sirius mentally cursed. This was bad, with all the tightened security someone was bound to intervene and they would be caught. Detention would be the least of his worries, besides the Feis and their cousins' wrath, his friends would be furious that he dragged them down with him.

Suddenly the young girl's run was stopped as she ran into a brunette boy and stumbled backwards. Sirius's world froze when he realized who she had bumped into. It was Brian Fei, her brother. If she had run into Peader, he would not have been worried, as Peader disliked his little sister, greatly, and made a point of avoiding her. Brian was another story, he was always checking up on his siblings; making sure that they were behaving, checking their homework and just spending time with them. Brian would recognize his sister, even with all the transfiguration.

Sirius stood, petrified; despite time slowing down it also seemed to have simultaneously sped up. It was like being in one of those Muggle horror movies, that he and James had sneaked out to watch during breaks. He watched as Brian turned around, reaching out to grab the stumbling girl's arm, and craning his head down to see her face.

All at once, time returned to normal as a gloved hand grabbed Sorcha's shoulder and pulled her back and around to face it's owner, blocking Brian's view of her face.

"There you are Evelyn!" Blake Chang exclaimed. "Your cousin and his friends were worried about you! Hey, Sirius, I found her!"

Sirius, though confused, was grateful for Blake's intervention and let out a sigh of relief before walking over to the small group. He noticed Blake bend down a bit to talk to Sorcha, who was rubbing her eyes, before he picked her up and she hid her face in his shoulder.

"Thanks Blake! Remus would kill me if we lost her!"

"Remus has a cousin?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, a second cousin I think -not too clear. Her Mom said that she could spend the day with us. I guess I said something to upset her, and she ran off. Sorry about that."

"Nah. It's okay, I'm used to kids running into me, especially back home." Brian waved them off before laughing. "She must have a hard forehead though, because for a second, I thought she was Sorcha, before I remembered that she was back at school."

"I'll withhold my observations, I have no idea what I did to set her off like this and I'd rather not risk another escape."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, there." Brian agreed. "Sorry, Evelyn, I hope I didn't upset you."

Sorcha shook her head, still keeping it in Blake's shoulder.

"Well, we should probably be getting back to Remus, now." Blake said. "He's pretty worried, and she's getting heavy."

"Oh, right, right." Brian agreed. "See you two later -and Evelyn, despite his name, you shouldn't anything Sirius says too seriously."

"Ha ha ha." Sirius said sarcastically. "I haven't heard that one before."

The boys waved goodbye to each other as they parted, with Sirius, Blake and Sorcha heading towards Zonko's. Once they were a safe enough distance away, Sirius relaxed enough to speak.

"Thanks for your help, Blake. We'd be in some pretty ser- big trouble if you hadn't intervened."

"You're welcome, but try not to make a habit of it. I'm a prefect, I can't be getting involved in stuff like this -and my parents would kill me if I got in trouble."

"Right, sorry, I'll try to be more careful next time."

"Maybe you could just make sure that there _isn't_ a next time. The age restriction on Hogsmeade visits isn't just a rule, it's a safety measure -and they're actually considering changing it to fourth or fifth years, with all the dark activity that's going on."

"Sorry." Sorcha mumbled.

"I suppose you do share some blame here too, don't you?" Blake said, before setting her down to walk again. "Promise not to do this again?"

"Yes." Sorcha agreed.

"Good. Let's go find Remus then and get you back to school."

"Why do we have to find Remus first?"

"We told everybody that you're his cousin, so it would be weird if you disappeared without saying goodbye to him." Sirius said.

"Speaking of which, did anybody ask why they haven't seen her at Hogwarts?" Blake asked.

"We said that she's ten."

"And what about next year when she doesn't show up?"

"Say she died?" Sirius suggested with a shrug. "I don't think anybody will be all that interested or remember."

"You underestimate our classmates -and your group's notoriety. Just say she's being home schooled, then Remus won't have to act upset and receive extra pity."

"I suppose there're enough kids being home schooled, now, that it won't raise any eyebrows."

"There are?" Sorcha asked.

"Yeah." Sirius answered. "Didn't you wonder why there are so few students at Hogwarts?"

"What are you talking about? There are are lots of students."

Blake sighed before explaining.

"There were a lot more just three or four years ago, but a lot of parents started getting worried and pulling their kids out to home school instead."

At Blake's explanation, Sirius remembered that the class sizes had already shrunk by the time Sorcha started at Hogwarts. He had his first few years to compare the school's population to, but Sorcha only had her home as comparison. It made sense that she thought there were a lot of students.

"Why did they do that?" Sorcha asked.

Sooner than he expected, Sirius found himself opening the doors to Zonko's.

"Because of the war." Sirius replied. "Some parents are just too afraid of letting their children out of their sight."

After finding the other Maurauders, Blake said goodbye and headed off to find his friends, while quartet took Sorcha back to school. It was a lengthy process; going down the tunnel, undoing the disguise and returning back to Hogsmeade through the tunnel so they could check in at the school gates. Sirius truly hoped that Sorcha intended on keeping her promise to Blake.

Before heading back, though, Sirius told his friends that he was heading to the potions shop, explaining that Sorcha had wanted to grab a few things for Alvina. James volunteered to go with him, to make the trip go faster, and sent Remus and Peter ahead to the school. Sirius found himself quite relieved when James did not tease him about Sorcha (he did not need people thinking he was a creep). Splitting the list between them, the two boys found everything they needed and got back to school only a minute after check-in.

"It's a good thing you made her cry, Sirius, there's no way she could have afforded all of this, and the Feis aren't very good at accepting charity." James said as he swung the bag of ingredients back and forth.

"For the last time! I didn't make her cry! I just got her angry and then she _pretended_ to cry, so that her brother wouldn't see her face!"

"Right. Right...What did you even say?"

"I called her a pessimist."

James glanced at his friend.

"That's it?"

"Yeah. I mean we were talking about the war, but that was mostly just depressing."

"And then you called her a pessimist?"

"I tried to cheer her up, first. Told her it would be over soon, and then she said I was wrong, so I called her a pessimist."

"Sensitive kid." James observed, casually.

"You're telling me." Sirius grumbled as they headed up the stairs.

"I would recommend _not_ marrying her." James said, quite seriously.

"Could we _please_ stop with those jokes." Sirius begged. "At least until she's fourteen. I feel like a such a creep when you do that!"

"You're the one who started it."

"When?!"

"Last year. Before the train even left the station." James reminded him, before pulling aside the unicorn tapestry.

"It was a poor choice of words, that's all!" Sirius argued.

"Poor choice of words?"

"I meant that it was a tense situation, and instead of diffusing it, I provoked it and I now regret it!"

"Yeah, you do that a lot don't you?"

"You're one to talk." Sirius grumbled as James gave the password to the fat lady.

The portrait swung aside and the two boys climbed through the portrait hole.

"Not as much as you. Moony has slowly been teaching me the art of holding my tongue. It's more useful than I thought. You should try it sometime."

"I'll think about it." Sirius said, before glancing around the dorm.

Upon spotting Anabelle Roth, one of Sorcha's roommates, he took James's bag of ingredients and headed over to her.

"Hey, Roth, could you put this on Sorcha's bed and tell her that it's a Christmas gift for her cousin?"

The young girl nodded shyly.

"W-which cousin... she's got a lot." She asked, getting softer with each word.

"Alvina."

Anabelle nodded again, before heading up to the girls' dorms with the bags. Sirius walked back over to James and the two headed out the portrait hole to dinner. As they walked, his earlier conversation with Sorcha played out in the back of Sirius's mind.

"Hey, I heard some stuff that I wanted to tell you guys." He told James. "But I don't want Ben listening in."

"Understandable."

That night, James slipped Ben a sleeping draught, to make sure he stayed asleep while they talked. Sirius told his friends what Sorcha had told him about her cousin's training and Aiken's muggle-born co-workers. Remus added a bit of information as well; He had heard from Blake that a witch from Korea had joined Aiken's department in the ministry. When asked why anyone would transfer to west Europe (especially the United Kingdom) when it was so dangerous, the answer was unsettling.

The situation was dire enough, that other ministries and magical citizens from around the world were offering their aid; so that their Ministry would not only stay afloat, but hopefully stop the Dark Lord's influence and power from spreading.

Peter was shaking while the others solemnly concluded that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were certainly growing stronger than _The Daily Prophet_ let on. That night, they promised each other that if the war was still going when they graduated, they would join the efforts fight Voldemort at all cost. Three of them firmly believed that they would ready for the trials and sacrifices to come, but one of them knew that he would never be.

* * *

 _Sorry for the long break. I've been sick for awhile and have finally started to pull out of it. I'm hoping to update my other stories soon, this one just happened to be the easiest to write and get a friend's input on._

 _While doing some of my research for this story, I came across an error that I made in the previous chapter; Lucius Malfoy had already graduated Hogwarts by the time that Sorcha started. So I'll leave it up to you to decide if he's a year younger, or Sirius just pranked some other Slytherin._

 _Thanks for reading! I hope to update soon, but I did wake up with the sniffles again (hopefully it's just the cold weather)._


	4. We're Not Blind (Part 2)

_Disclaimer: I go not own Harry Potter_

* * *

 **Young and Dumb**

 **Chapter Three: We're Not Blind (Part Two)**

This had to be the greatest departure from Hogwarts that Sirius had ever had. Usually, leaving for Christmas Break entailed goofing around with his friends, grumbling about seeing his family, and making plans to sneak out of his house. This year, however, Tawny Lewis decided to wish him goodbye by snogging in an empty corridor! It was too good to be true and he hoped that it would not end for a good long while.

Unfortunately the end came with the sound of Sorcha's childish voice.

"Ew! What are you doing to her face?!"

Even if Tawny had not screeched and pulled away in surprise, the moment was now ruined for Sirius. He pulled away from Tawny and sighed, before trying to do some damage control.

"Well hello Sorcha, are you scared to go to the carriage by yourself? Your brother really ought to stop ditching you like this-" Sirius masking his annoyance with false concern, before turning back to Tawny. "I hope you don't mind, Peader is always picking on her, so I've kind of become like a big brother to her."

"Oh, not at all!" Tawny exclaimed. "That's so sweet of you! Have a happy Christmas, Sirius!"

"You too Tawny! See you after break!" Sirius called back as he grabbed his trunk and ushered Sorcha away.

"What was that all about?" Sorcha asked when they were out of earshot.

Sirius pinched her upper arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"That was for interrupting! Lucky for us, I was able to salvage the situation."

"How?"

"Girls like guys that are good with kids -I've been getting a lot more female attention since I started hanging out with you- So I just act brotherly with you and then I have to beat 'em away with a stick."

"No you don't." Sorcha scoffed. "Hey! You've been using me to get girls?!"

"Of course I do." Sirius replied.

"Is that the only reason you hang out with me?"

"No. That's just one of the benefits of our friendship. I do enjoy your company... occasionally." Sirius said with a short lived smirk, before he felt a sharp kick to his shin.

"Jerk!" Sorcha snapped at him, before stomping off down the hall as fast her trunk would allow.

Sirius chuckled as he ran off down the hall after her.

"I was only joking, Sorcha!" He called as he rounded the corner.

Sirius grabbed Sorcha's arm and pulled her to a stop.

"It was a joke, Sorcha. You would know if I didn't like you."

Sorcha glared at him for a moment.

"Can I have a chocolate frog?" She asked.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Sirius sighed as he dug through his pocket. "Are you gonna want me to pull your trunk while you eat it?"

"Yes, please." Sorcha said, as they exchanged the candy and luggage.

"So I'm forgiven then?" Sirius asked.

Sorcha nodded as she took a few bites of chocolate.

"Where's your cat?" He asked, noticing the lack of a basket.

"In my satchel. Mona gave her a sleeping draught for traveling. She's a nightmare otherwise."

"I've noticed." Sirius said, wryly. "What are you doing for Christmas?" He asked her.

"Visiting family, family visiting us, baking, eating, church, presents, lots of food. Very busy." She said, before taking another bite of chocolate. "You?"

"Oh you know, sulking in my room, upsetting my parents -probably getting a few books on the importance of blood purity as gifts."

"Sounds fun." Sorcha said casually enough that Sirius almost missed the sarcasm. "Is Remus going with you and James to muggle London?"

"I hope so -and would you please not spout it out. It's supposed to be a secret."

Sirius was not going to bother asking how she knew about his plans. He knew she would not give him an answer.

"Fine, but you have to promise to tell me about it when we get back, okay?"

"I'll even bring you some muggle candy, how's that sound?"

"Fantastic!" Sorcha chirped.

When they reached the entrance hall, Sirius and Sorcha gave a quick look around at the occupants, before heading to Filch to get checked off the list. They ran into James and Remus at the second carriage they checked, and Sirius handed his luggage over to them, saying that he had to help Sorcha find a carriage and put away her luggage, before he got in. He was rather surprised that they had not run into any of Sorcha's siblings or cousins already, considering how many of them there were. Sirius figured that they probably were not even out yet, the Feis had a tendency to run late.

Sirius opened the door to the eighth carriage and let out a groan when he saw his brother inside. He slammed the door shut as fast as he could and promptly moved on to check the next carriage, with Sorcha in tow. Any hope he had of not speaking to his brother until they reached Platform 9 ¾ was dashed when heard the door re-open and his brother's voice calling him.

"Sirius!" Regulus yelled. "Sirius, get back here."

Sirius ignored him and checked the next carriage -nobody he could leave Sorcha with. He shut the door and felt his brother pulling on his shoulder.

"Sirius, what do you think you're doing?" Regulus demanded to know.

"What does it matter to you?" Sirius asked.

"Mother and Father would not approve of the company you're keeping." Regulus spat out, as he looked in Sorcha's direction.

"Well then it's a good thing I don't care what they think. Isn't it? -Come on Sorcha."

Sirius grabbed Sorcha's hand and tried to leave, but Regulus pulled out his wand and fired a hex at them. Sorcha screamed when a chunk of her hair was hit and disintegrated. Sirius was furious, he turned around and shot a hex at his brother, who narrowly avoided it by diving to the ground.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Sirius yelled. "She's only twelve! You could have hurt her!"

Regulus stood up, while trying to brush off the snow.

"Mother and Father have told you not to keep company with the likes of her! If you keep associating with and these filthy blooded creatures, you'll be as bad as Andromeda!"

"Good! I'd rather be like Andromeda than the rest of you!" Sirius yelled back. "Now are you gonna go back to your carriage, or do I have to send you home with a pumpkin for a head?"

Regulus thought about it for a moment, and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Sorcha.

"You'll change your mind someday." She said, staring at him.

"Wha-"

"I won't see it, but it'll happen... It's gonna hurt."

Regulus looked her in the eyes and felt rather disconcerted. Eventually. Sirius got tired of the staring contest and shot a warning spark at his brother's feet.

"Get back in your carriage, _now_."

Regulus turned and began to walk away, while Sirius and Sorcha watched. When he was halfway back to his carriage, Sirius shot a silent jinx at him, and pulled Sorcha back to their search of the carriages, while he listened to his brother's muffled panicking in the background.

"What did you do to him?" Sorcha asked, she struggled to keep up with him.

"Stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth -Don't worry, he doesn't how to cast nonverbal spells yet."

"You're not gonna get in trouble are you?"

"Not till I get home. He's not dumb enough to tattle to anyone here. No staff member is going to tolerate this blood purity dung -not with what's happening outside. -By the way what was with that staring?"

"Oh, my great-grandmother used to stare at people like that when talking about the future and they would get uncomfortable. I figure that if I stare at somebody like that and say something really vague and random about their future, they shut up and leave me alone."

"You do this often?" Sirius said as he checked another carriage.

"Yeah. Never fails... except with my siblings and cousins who remember Granny Ida."

"You think I could pull it off?"

"No. Besides, you like goading people on."

Sirius laughed at the honesty of the answer.

"Sorcha!" A girl's voice called out.

Sirius turned around and saw Calista Coleman waving at them from a carriage door, and sighed in relief. Calista was one of Sorcha's countless cousins, which meant that Sirius could leave Sorcha with her and head back to the Maurauder's carriage. They trudged through the snow to the carriage, while Brian and Calista jumped out and came to take Sorcha's trunk. Once the door was closed, Sirius turned around and hurried back to his friends.

The trip to Platform 9 ¾ was a happy one filled with smiles and laughter. Remus was recovering from his most recent transformation, two days prior, but still managed to remain in high spirits with the others, and had even agreed to accompany them to Muggle London, _if_ his parents would allow him. It felt like too short a time had passed when they reached their destination and had to say goodbye. Their exit from the train brought on a jolt of the sad reality of the war. Ministry workers were posted outside each train door, with a clipboard to check off the names of each student. All muggle-born students were assigned to an auror, who was in charge of escorting them home. More Aurors were stationed around the platform and they -along with several ministry workers- were directing everybody's departures at a pace that would not draw the attention of muggles, while also getting the families home in the short time that was now preferred. Lollygagging was highly discouraged, and most students found little time to say their farewells, as they were immediately shuffled away by their parents.

Sirius saw his own parents, sitting casually on a loveseat they had conjured, not panicking as other parents did. Their blood and beliefs were 'pure', they had nothing to lose.

Sirius sighed and began to slowly make his way over to his parents, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He craned his neck to look behind him and was surprised to see Godric Fei.

"Hello, Black."

"Hi Godric, what are you doing here?"

"Helping Dad pick up my siblings. Mam's at home with the younger ones. Anyways, just wanted to say that Sorcha told us what happened with your brother, and we're pretty grateful."

"Oh, that was nothing. Regulus and I have never really got on well, so it's kind of the norm. Sorry about Sorcha's hair though."

"She didn't lose that much, I'm sure Mam and Auntie Elodia will have it sorted in no time." Godric chuckled, before glancing over at Sirius's parents. "Look, if you have any trouble with your parents, you're welcome to stay with us for a bit. I'm sure you've got the same offer from Potter, but you're still welcome... as long as you can leave Mona alone."

"Thanks, Godric, but my parents will be more in need of a sanctuary than me."

"If you say so, have a good Christmas!"

"No 'Happy Christmas'?" Sirius asked jokingly.

"I'm not keeping my fingers crossed with that lot." Godric said, indicating Sirius's family.

Sirius broke out in laughter.

"Well I know _you'll_ have a happy Christmas! It was nice seeing you, Godric!" He said with a wave.

Godric was waving goodbye, when Sorcha suddenly jumped up onto his back.

"Umph!" Godric gasped.

"BYE SIRIUS!" She yelled, while waving her hand wildly. "HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!"

"You too, Sorcha!" He said with a final wave, before turning away from the laughing faces of the Feis and turning to his grim family.

He really did envy the Feis sometimes. Their family may have been crowded, with twelve children, an endless stream of cousins, and their funds spread thin; but they seemed like reasonable people, who cared for each other. Even with how much Peader and Sorcha fought, the whole family still seemed to smile often and have fun. He hoped that the Fei family would come out of this war still smiling.

Sirius soon saw all of his holiday expectations coming to fruition. His parents were, naturally, upset when they found out about him jinxing Regulus, but Sirius did not bother to defend himself. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said that Regulus was being a prat, before sending himself to his room. His time at home was spent doing his homework, reading, eating or driving his family and Kreacher up the wall. When family parties were unavoidable, he would mostly stay in a corner, and talk with Uncle Alphard.

On December 24th , he sneaked out of the house, during a party, and met up with James and Remus at the Leaky Cauldron. They made their way down to Gringotts to exchange their money for muggle currency, before making their way into Muggle London. They had a blast with the muggle festivities. Between carolers, ice skating, Christmas lights, food and the movies, Sirius was almost forgot about his troubles. They also stopped by a few shops. He had promised muggle sweets to more than a few people, and there was also the matter of muggle posters for his bedroom. He purchased some gifts for Andromeda and her family, a muggle book about 'mythical' creatures, for Hagrid, and a few motorcycle magazines for himself.

Sirius was back home, and putting up his new posters by midnight, satisfied with his day away from his family. After he had finished putting up the posters, he hid his other purchases and settled down to read his magazines until he fell asleep. It was no surprise when he was woken up at noontime, by the sounds of Kreacher's horrified gasps. As expected, his family was not happy with his new posters, even more so when they confirmed that, just like the Gryffindor banners, he had used a permanent sticking charm to keep them on the wall.

The commotion was such that Sirius's owl had to screech wildly before he noticed James and Remus's owls outside his window. He let the two birds in, and took the letters off the their legs before taking them to the water dish and sitting down to read the letters. He thought they were simple Christmas greetings until he noticed the rushed and messy scrawl on the parchment.

He unfolded James's first, and read:

 _Sirius, have you read the Prophet today? If you haven't, read it now. Front page, can't miss it. It's bad._

'What happened?' Sirius wondered.

He grabbed Remus's letter, fast, hoping for more information.

 _Sirius, if you haven't read the prophet yet, do it_ now _. Death Eaters attacked a muggle church service around midnight. Aurors and Healers were dispatched. Alvina Ness is dead._

Sirius threw down the letter and ran down to the stairs to find his family's copy of the _Daily Prophet._ His family looked up, curiously, from their food as he ran into the dining room and looked around the table frantically for the paper. When he saw it, he snatched it up and stared at the front page in horror.

"Oh you finally heard the good news." His father laughed, with food still in his mouth.

"You call _this_ good news?!" Sirius cried in horror.

"Rotten muggles dead and a few blood traitors taken out in the process, I'd say that's great news." His mother said. "That Dark Lord knows what he's doing!"

"And what about _you,_ Regulus?" Sirius snapped. "I'm sure you think this is good news too. Don't you?"

"Of course I do." Regulus replied crisply. "Don't act so surprised, Sirius. Do you really think your outrage is going to change anything?"

Sirius opened the paper to a page with pictures of the dead healers and slammed it in front of Regulus.

"WHAT ABOUT HER?" He demanded pointing at Alvina's smiling face. "SHE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH US! I KNOW YOU FANCIED HER DURING YOUR FIRST YEAR! DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE SHE DESERVED TO DIE?"

Regulus's flinch was nearly invisible, when he looked at the photograph. He looked Sirius in the eye before answering.

"Yes. She was a blood traitor."

Sirius snatched the _Daily Prophet_ back up angrily, before storming out of the kitchen. He locked the door to his room and read the article over and over again. After the fourth or fifth reading, he had had enough of the article _and_ his family.

He slammed the newspaper into a textbook and began to pack everything he did not wish to part with. In the end, he only required his school trunk, a small suitcase and his book bag. He left the house through the back door and took the Knight Bus to the Potters' house.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter welcomed him with open arms and a cup of tea. They wasted little time in setting up a room for him and sent his luggage up. The old couple tried to give the boys some comfort, without sugar coating anything. Eventually they ventured off to another room and left James and Sirius in silence.

"I can't believe she's actually dead." James said after a few minutes. "She was in our house, on our Quidditch team... Her fights with Fawn were always so out of control, but I always looked forward to them."

"We always cheered for her." Sirius said, thinking about all the chaos the two girls caused -even before Aiken came into the picture.

They descended back into silence for a few minutes before Sirius spoke again.

"She and Sorcha were really close... I think Alvina was her favorite cousin."

"You worried this is gonna change her?" James asked.

"I know it will... It's gonna change the whole lot of them, I'm sure... Chang too."

"Poor guy." James said. "He loved her so much... They were both good people, couldn't just ignore what was happening and take the easy path."

"I suppose that's why they say 'the good die young'." Sirius said.

A few days later, the Potters, Lupins and Sirius were attending Alvina Ness's funeral. They were surprised at both how many _and how_ few came. There were obviously people like the Pettigrews who were afraid to come to the funeral of a 'blood traitor', but Alvina's large family more than made up for it. Dumbledore's presence helped to assure some that it was safe, leading to a few extra classmates and healers coming to the funeral, as well.

Sirius spotted the Chang family multiple times, usually in close proximity to the Ness family. Mrs. Chang was consistently seen, giving hugs and handkerchiefs to Mrs. Ness and Aiken as well as other members of Alvina's family. It seemed that Aiken and Alvina had been closer to being engaged than Sirius had thought. Aiken did not move much during the funeral, he seemed to be focusing most of his energy into holding back his tears, while Lian clung to his arm in an attempt at comfort and Blake held his shoulder.

During the burial, Mrs. Ness lost the ability to stand and had to be held up by her husband and one of her brothers as she cried hysterically. Mr. Ness was supporting his wife with one arm, while hugging his remaining daughter, Elfrida, close to him as she cried. Their youngest child, Alwin, simply stared at the grave in front of him while an older relative held his shoulder.

Sirius saw Sorcha during the funeral as well, always hugged close to the side of an older relative, as limp as a rag doll. She truly looked like the life had been sucked out of her. Even her hair seemed less lively than usual, pinned back out of her face and staying in place.

After the burial, they moved on to the Ness family's restaurant to eat and socialize. It did not take long to find Sorcha. She was sitting in an armchair, next to a small table and staring at the ground. Sirius looked at her, unsure of what to do. Only a week ago, she was laughing and smiling, now he was worried that she would never do so again. Remus put together a plate of food and walked over to offer it to her, she barely acknowledged him.

James nudged Sirius and indicated the last available seat next to Sorcha. Sirius took the hint and walked over to sit next to her. She briefly made eye contact with him, before looking at the ground again, but that short look at her face simply caused Sirius more concern. She looked terrifying, to say the least, her skin had a sickly pallor, her eyes were blood shot and the skin around them was gray.

"...Sorcha?" He asked, cautiously.

He did not say anything else. What _could_ he say? There was nothing that would make this any better, and asking stupid questions with obvious answers, would accomplish nothing; So they sat in silence.

"Al- Alvin-" Sorcha broke the silence, with a shuddering voice. "She was gonna teach me... how to make... butterfly cookies... ones that fly... She was gonna show me how... on Christmas... Now she can't."

Sirius saw a tear sliding down Sorcha's cheek and began to panick. She was crying. She was crying, and he had no idea what to do! Was he supposed to say something? Hug her? 'Please not hug her' he begged, internally. He looked at Remus for help, but found that he, too, was at a complete loss. Both boys were overcome with silent horror as they realized that neither of them knew what to do.

By some miracle, Lily arrived and quietly shooed them away, before hugging Sorcha close and whispering some comforting words to her. Remus and Sirius gratefully left and soon discovered that the miracle was actually the work of James.

"I knew we'd be no help, so I looked for any girl that knew her, wasn't consumed with their own grief, and had a bit if tact." James explained to them.

"And you just happened to find Lily." Sirius said.

"Yes, actually, it was mostly coincidental. I wasn't entirely sure she'd be here -but I found her and managed to convince her that I was actually concerned about Sorcha. Am I really that bad?"

"Have you given her a reason to think otherwise?" Remus asked.

The funeral seemed to end after Dumbledore announced that he would be departing soon. It was not long before James and Sirius found themselves sitting in the Potters' kitchen, waiting for the kettle to whistle.

"I called her a pessimist." Sirius said. "Told her she was being stupid, and that Dumbledore would end this war soon, but it's gotten worse."

"You can't beat yourself up over this, Sirius. There was nothing you could have done."

"Maybe not now," Sirius agreed, "but when we're seventeen."

"Only two years to go." James said, as the kettle let out a shrilly whistle.

* * *

 _Thanks for your patience with this supremely long, two parted chapter. It would have come out sooner, but I'm also working on my other two published fanfictions, as well as about four or five that just popped into my head about a month ago._

 _I seriously need to prioritize._

 _Anyways, thanks for reading!  
_


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